Runaway to LA
by Grace O'Donovan Dimond
Summary: It's about a girl who lost her dad and nana and went on holiday to LA but she came across somethings that made her want to stay.


I climbed onto the plane, I was so glad to be away from Stafford, it was just a small town, I had needed a vacation for a long time, I was in my seat and the plane began to rise of the ground, finally a few weeks away from all this dilemma back at home. This was going to be a long flight so glad I got first class tickets. The relaxing I could do, being waited on was one of the things I needed at this moment in my life. A few months ago, everything had gone pair shaped. First my dad died which caused a right uproar in the family as my step mother is delusional, she's scary to be around and she talks utter rubbish. Then the other week my nana died, this year just hasn't been a great year with all the deaths. The only people I could trust at the moment were my Aunt and Uncle and Cousins and Of course my mum, stepdad and sister but they didn't understand. I didn't like talking about it to people only my close friends.

This flight was a long flight but being in first class meant that I could sleep when I wanted, but most of all I had to forget about what had happened over the last few months, hopefully this holiday to LA would help me. I hadn't really got over, the things that had happened a few months ago. The Problem I have is that I bottle up my Thoughts. I'm too nice to tell people if they are hurting me but one thing I do is run away. I saw my step mum in Waitrose a few weeks ago after not seeing her for about 3 months. My instincts told me to get away from here so I ran into the toilets and then went round the back of the store to get back to Granny. I then saw her the other week at my Nana's funeral but I didn't speak to her. The airhostess came in and asked me if I wanted anything but all I really wanted was to be left alone so I just said no. I am not used to all this attention and I don't like it, I have never liked being hugged as I have grown up.

The airhostess left but I decided that it was best that I had company so I called her back. We sat there for a while talking about my problems. She was very good to listen to me as I was ranting on a bit. This flight was going on for a while but after that I had a sleep and we only had about 40 minutes left, I was so glad to see the sun, it hadn't been sunny in Stafford for ages.

We landed in LAX Airport it was one of the most beautiful airports I had been to. It was so big you could easily get lost in there. I found my way to the baggage area where I waited for my bag. I was there for a long time. This person bumped into me, he had the same accent as me that was how I had recognized him. I was looking at the floor the content of my suitcase was on it. He walked up and started talking to me.

"Oh crap! I'm so sorry!" He said quickly, starting to pick up the girls belongings and put them in some sort of arranged order.

"Let me help you," He said as I scrambled around collecting her items.

"Don't worry, it was my fault for not zipping it up properly," I replied as I started stuffing the contents back into suitcase, without any success.

"Thanks for the offer, I will need help picking this up," I continued, dragging my suitcase out of the way of the hundreds of passengers streaming in through the gates. He helped me by quickly getting my suitcases of the conveyor belt, placing one on my trolley and one on his and creating a makeshift screen so that I could reorganise my stuff. It was only when I saw the label on her suitcase that I realised why her voice seemed familiar. He was British. As He helped me reorganise my suitcase I took a glance at him. His light brown hair was all over the place in his attempt to collect all of my belongings in record time, but I could see a pale strained face underneath. I noticed him glancing at me and smiled slightly. He decided to look away in case I felt he was staring. Once I had managed to get everything back in my suitcase He got to his feet and helped me put it on my trolley.

"I'm really sorry about that," He said, truly sorry about bumping into me.

"Don't worry about it," I said, smiling.

"It was a pleasure meeting you," He said as I turned my trolley to walk off. He looked at me.

"You too," I said, pushing my trolley off. Within a few seconds, he had disappeared into the crowd.

I found my way out of the crowd. There were hundreds of people, it was a bit of a push and shove dilemma which meant I thought I'd stop so that I could make my way through the crowd when it had settled. I knew that there was a taxi waiting for me so I phoned the cab company and told them I'd be a while so come back when I'm ready. I sat down on a bench, the airport was so crowded that it was rather fun just watching them but that got tiring quite quickly so my mind drifted to the day my dad had died. It was 30th July, we had gone on holiday a few days before knowing that he wasn't well but praying for him, the doctors were saying that he could get better. I never had my mind set for things to get worse. But as I had just thought it happened on the 30th July at 8am, it was so devastating, I didn't know till about 10am as mum told me when I woke up, it was terrible. I couldn't believe it was really happening, everyone was in bits but I was trying to keep myself together so that we could cope. The first thing I did once I had let it settle down a bit was text my best friend. I know it wasn't the right thing I just didn't really want to speak to people but she rang me back and we had a long chat it had helped but I will never forget my dad. I felt so sorry for my sister, she is only 12 and she had to go through this pain way to early. I know that I am still a child but she has never been stable with people leaving her. She had loved him so much but she wouldn't see him, she never told me why. I hadn't seen him since about 2 weeks before when he was in hospital it was to traumatising to go again, I now wish that I hadn't just stood there and that maybe just maybe I'd gone to the crematorium.

I heard a voice so I clicked out of my thoughts. It was nobody I must have been hearing things. I then looked at the time and thought crap I told the cab driver that I'd be there soon. I made my way out of the airport it was like there was a ghost there, I know I sound delusional but I'd become all disjointed. I made my way out of the airport and saw the cab driver, waving a sign with my name on. He didn't seem too angry that I had kept him waiting which was good. I asked him how far to the hotel and he replied about 1 hour.

"Oh Great" I said but I suppose it will give me some time to sleep. It had been about 10 hours since I had last slept, I got a little on the plane but not much. I just wanted to forget about everything that had happened, it was a really bad summer for me so I got in the cab and slept for most of the journey. I woke up when we got into LA, it really was the city of angels and I had never dreamed it would be so beautiful. It was much brighter in LA than in Stafford, Hopefully the weather will cheer me up. I had always enjoyed the sun and the sea. I was staying in the Four Seasons hotel, it was in Beverly Hills, I had been surprised by how much money I had got and it meant I could really have a holiday that I would be waited on.

We arrived outside the hotel; it was the most amazing place, I had never seen anything like it in my entire life. It was like you were in a palace. I got out of the cab and a hotel porter took my bags to my room, I followed slowly behind, the views very so glorifying that I had to stop a few times. I made it to the pool and had to stop. It was one of the most beautifully designed and decorated pools I had ever seen, there were gold plating's around the pool and people who would look after your belonging's while you were in the pool. The sun beds were in another league, they were massive and there were so many that there would never be a shortage if all the people in the hotel were down there. I finally caught up with the hotel porter; it took me a while to figure out where my room was. I then thought maybe it wasn't such a good idea that I had been drifting further and further behind. The hotel was so big. I stopped to find somebody to talk too. I found the receptionist and she directed me to my room. I got there about half an hour later by that time the porter had left my belongings in the room and was attending to some other issues. I was in a daze, the hotel was so out of my league but I was so glad that I had given myself a break. I was so thankful for this break.

I unpacked my belongings and left the room to find the pool. I was on my way down to the pool when I heard an accent; I recognised it as it was the boy who I had met at the airport. He was also on his way to the pool. I was too scared to talk to him but then I bumped into him with some force as he fell over and all of his belongings went everywhere but this time it was my entire fault.

"I'm so sorry, I didn't see you there" I said

"Oh Hi aren't you the girl I met in the airport? He replied

"I sure am, it seems it was my fault this time though" I said humorously

"Don't worry this time, It seems that now we both have done it now" He replied

"Okay, Thanks, Shall I help you pick these up?" I said

"No don't worry about it" He replied, I helped him pick it up anyway as I am very kind. I finally went on my way. I made it down to the pool and I put my towel on the sun bed. I then got into the pool, the water was freezing but it was so nice. I really had to get used to the weather but it was fine. I was having a nice relaxing swim when I saw this figure frantically waving at me, I ignored them thinking that they were waving at someone else and carried on with my lengths. It became odd when this person was just stood there, it finally registered with me who it was, and it was the boy from the airport. This I have to say is becoming really weird, he was either following me or I was seeing things. I know I said I thought I was going barmy but if he wasn't really there I had something terribly wrong with me. I was having doubts, somebody had bumped into me in the airport and I had literally run into them on the way to the pool so I needed to get the thought of me being crazy out of my head.

I got out the pool to make sure that there was someone there. He was stood there waving frantically. He had this look to him, the sort of kind look on his face. He was about 6ft and had the most handsome figure; you could tell that he worked out a lot. He had brown short spiky hair and he wore jeans and a shirt. He was the person on my mind. I walked up to him; I was rather wet and only had my bikini on. I was worried that he wouldn't want to talk to me. He was stood there waiting.

"Hi, did you want something" I said

"Hi, I just wanted to thank you for helping me earlier" He replied

"Oh don't worry about it, you seem a very nice person" I said stupidly

"Oh sorry didn't mean for it to sound like that" I quickly said

"Its okay, most people are unsure of me at first" He replied

That really surprised me, I was wondering what he meant by that but thought that maybe it would be better to carry on. I didn't want to interrupt this talk we were having it maybe the only one for a long time, I wasn't sure which room he was in or if I'd be able to find him.

"Okay, how are you?" I said moving on swiftly

"I'm good thank you, I know we only just met but would you like to have dinner tonight?" He replied

I was so not expecting that, that was rather odd to be fair but from first meeting's he seemed a nice enough person.

"Well I wasn't expecting that" I said laughing; I really hope I'm not embarrassing him. It took me about 5 minutes to get over myself. Once I had calmed down, I reframed myself

"Sorry about that, I would love to, what time?" I replied

"Don't worry most people think I come on to strong. About 8pm in the restaurant" He said

"You are acting really weird, Okay I'll be there" I replied not quite sure whether he was as nice as he seemed.

We left it there, I got back in the pool for about 20 minutes, Thoughts we're rushing through my head. I needed sometime to myself before I met with him tonight. I decided that I would go for a walk into Los Angeles my calculations we rather out as it took me twice as long as I hoped it would. I made it down to the town and walked into a bar. The walk had tired me out, I sat down and then a figure appeared I nearly had a heart attack as I thought it was the boy from the hotel but thankfully it was the waiter.

"What would you like to drink?" The waiter asked

"A coke with ice please" I replied and "Do you have anything for people who keep seeing things" I said humorously

"I'll just get you the drink and come and sit down" The Waiter replied

"Thank you, you're wonderful" I replied

The waiter came over and sat next to me, He was rather tall and slim I would have maybe seen him to be an athlete not a waiter. He had brown spiky hair and brown eyes. We looked like Siblings. It was very odd. We started by getting to know a bit about each other.

"Hey, what is your name?" the Waiter asked

"My name is Roxie, what is your name?" I replied

"My name is Daniel" the waiter replied

I gazed into his eyes, they were shining like diamonds I could have just sat their staring at him but he might have found me rather weird.

"Daniel, do you know what it is like to lose someone close to you?" I asked him warily.

"As a matter of fact, I do know what it feels like, I lost my mother in a car accident when I was 5 and I've never known my father, Mum used to say that he had gone on a business trip but as I got older, it became strange when he had never returned. I asked my mum just before she died, what had really happened to dad? She then told me the truth, He was on a secret mission with his friends and they were detonating a bomb and it exploded with all of them still in so nobody knows what he was really doing in there." He replied

"I'm so sorry; I didn't mean to upset you. That is just dreadful what happened to your parents. If you don't mind me asking do you have any siblings? I asked really hoping I'm not in to deep.

"Yes, I have a little sister and brother, they were just babies when all of this happened so they don't know, I will tell them what happened to mummy and daddy when the time comes." He replied

"Aww that is just so sad, I suppose I can't really talk then? I asked

"Why not? He replied

"Because you have been through so much, I lost my dad in the summer and my nana not that long ago" I said

"Don't worry, It will all get better with time, who were you most attached too? He asked, it was an odd question but I answered it anyway.

"I was more attached to my dad, He was like my hero and then everything fell from under my feet, Gone just like that" I replied

"I know the feeling, gone never seen again." He said

"Can I ask you a personal question please?" I asked

"Sure, don't worry about my feelings, I'm a hard nut to crack" He replied laughing

"Weren't you put into care when your parents died?" I asked him hoping he wasn't offended.

"Yes, I was for a little while but I managed to keep my little brother and sister with me which helped, We know live together in a house, I go out and earn the keep and they are still at school so we just try and manage the best we can." He replied.

That reply surprised me a little, first of all I didn't think he would go into his family background and it is rather nice how they managed to stay together. I need to stick with my family which reminded me; I had to ring my sister. I had totally forgotten with all the mayhem going on at the moment. It had been nice talking to Daniel as he could understand what was going on. I'm still in shock though, I would have hated to lose my parents at such a young age, thankfully I can care for myself and my little sister. We have other relatives such as my stepdad and grandparents. Daniel didn't, I didn't want to ask what happened to them because I think I upset him enough for one day.

"Daniel, I have to go and ring my sister" I said

"Okay Roxie, maybe I'll see you around" He replied

"Yeah maybe I'll come back tomorrow" I replied

"Okay" He replied grinning, I think he fancies me which I suppose wouldn't be such a bad thing but I fancied Leon, he was so fit, I know I had only just met him yesterday at the airport but he had asked me yes me to dinner.

I went off to find a phone box. It took me a few hours as I thought I was being clever. I went all around LA looking, there were some beautiful views along the way but I was walking into the desert. I carried on walking until I saw the Hollywood sign. I really was going the wrong way now. There was nobody around, in the end I decided I was going to turn around and head back the way I came. My only problem was I was lost in the middle of nowhere trying to find my way back to LA. I headed back the way I came; it was really odd I felt like I was being watched. Mysteriously these jelly babies were laid on the floor. I began following them they led me to Daniel. He had followed me, I think he'd realised I had no clue where I was going so it was a wonderful surprise. I followed the jelly beans back to LA. There was Daniel standing at the end of them. He walked me into the centre of town and found a phone box. He then left me, it felt odd being deserted in a place you didn't know. I rang my sister who was rather annoyed that I hadn't rang her yesterday.

"Hi little sis, Sorry I didn't ring yesterday" I said

"Hi big sis, I was getting worried about you, I thought you'd got lost or been eaten by some creature" She replied

My little sister had always had a wild imagination since she was little. She was also a drama queen, that maybe why she is now an actress/singer.

"Oh, you have such a wild imagination, I was just busy" I replied

"Oh, what were you doing? Tell me please?" She asked

"Why should I, nosy?" I replied

"Because, I'm your lovely little sister, who you love dearly" She replied

"Okay, I met this boy at the airport, he was rather handsome. He knocked my suitcase out my hands. Then I met him again, It turns out we are staying at the same hotel. Get this little sister, He has asked me out for dinner tonight." I said excitedly.

"Big sister, looks like you've got your touch back" She replied

"Thanks little sis, I'm off to dinner with Leon now, Bye, Love you" I replied

"Be big sis, Have a nice time, Love you" She replied

I hung up; I had to get back to the hotel to meet Leon. There was about 1 hour till we were having dinner but I took forever to get ready. I wanted to look nice for him. He was the first person in a long time who had asked me to dinner. I really didn't know where I was. I could remember my way back to the bar so I went and found Daniel. He was still there thankfully.

"Daniel, Can you drive me back to my hotel please?" I asked

"Sure, Where you staying?" He asked

"I'm staying at the Four Seasons, In Beverly Hills" I replied

"Okay" He replied

"Thank you, I really need to learn to find my way around" I said

"No, I'll be your coffer for the time" He replied

"Thank you Daniel, You are just too kind" I replied

We got in the car, it was a gold Ferrari. Daniel seemed to be rich which was quite surprising as he was one of three and had to look after his siblings. It seemed rather rude to ask. I sat in silence all the way back to the hotel. It was a little further than I had thought. I had walked it earlier, I must have been mad. I was so tired so I fell asleep. We arrived back at the hotel with enough time to spare so I invited Daniel into my room. It was rather odd; he then said that he had to go. I then realised that he needed to go and pick his younger siblings up.

I started to get ready. I had a shower and then got dressed; I remembered that I had packed my dress. It was purple with sparkly glitter on. I had loved this dress since I got it a few years ago. I was usually ready in about 15 minutes but I had to put my makeup on and sort my hair out. I had decided that I was going to curl my hair it looked so glossy when I curled it. I looked a picture. I was just about to put my shoes on when Leon knocked on my hotel room door.

"I'm ready" I shouted out the door

"Okay" he replied

He walked in through the door and looked a picture himself. He had spiked his hair and put on a really nice blue shirt which looked so hot on him. I couldn't stop staring. It became uncomfortable when he noticed. We walked out the room together.

"You look stunning" he said

"If you don't mind my saying you look stunning too" I replied

We were both rather shocked so we walked down to the restaurant in silence. It was a beautiful evening, the moon was glistening. We had to walk around the swimming pool to get to the restaurant. The water was glistening with a shimmer of hope. We arrived at the restaurant; it had shimmering lights and was set in a beautiful dining room. Leon had been rather open minded earlier in the day so I went to chill out. I think that I might have just upset him a little bit as he had this sad look on his face. I turned around to face him.

"Are you okay? Leon" I asked

"Yes I'm fine thanks Roxie" He replied

That was really big shock to me I hadn't told him what my name was. Maybe he had heard Daniel talking to me in the foyer.

That would make a lot of sense but still I wasn't quite sure. He knew a lot about me which I hadn't told him so things started to become slightly creepy. We arrived at the restaurant and the waiter sat us down. I had the shock of my life, Daniel was the waiter. He must have many jobs I thought to myself as he had a Ferrari and all this money. I went to sit down but fell off the chair, I felt like a complete and utter idiot but I suppose it doesn't matter I was in the company of two very handsome gentlemen. I got up off the floor and sat on the chair, my cheeks were rosy red. Leon had helped me up but Daniel had lifted me onto the chair. I had met Leon yesterday and Daniel today. They were both very handsome but Leon was the one who had caught my attention. I didn't know how to break it to Daniel that I didn't fancy him. It would break his little heart. I didn't want to do that. It would help if he was happy. He had his two younger siblings to look after. I suppose the only difference really separating them was that Daniel was from LA and Leon was from England so when I went home, Leon would be in the same country as me. I had found out from a previous relationship that far distance relationships don't work.

This was a meal Leon had planned for the two of us so I decided that I would ban Daniel from my thoughts for now. Leon was sat opposite me, he still had those puppy dog eyes but I ignored then.

"Where did you disappear to earlier today? I searched the whole hotel to try and find you but you were nowhere to be found." He asked me

"Oh Leon, I went out for a walk down into LA but got lost so I came across this bar, that was were I found Daniel, I then went looking for a phone box to ring my sister on but went the wrong way and ended up in the desert and then I rang my sister and after that Daniel brought me back to the hotel" I replied

"I'm so sorry Leon for leaving you here but I didn't know where you'd gone after you'd spoke to me by the pool" I said

"It's okay Roxie, I found some things to do while you were gone" He replied

"May I ask you something Leon?" I asked

"Sure, go ahead" He replied

"How do you know my name? I don't remember telling you it" I said

He looked rather shocked by that question. He had this guilty look on his face.

"I found you're passport, that was why I came looking for you earlier" He replied

"Thank you Leon, I've been looking for it" I replied. I wasn't angry at him, I was more thankful that he had found it. His face had perked up, I was glad that he was happy now. After that episode, we decided that we would finally order the food.

"Are you ready to order?" Daniel asked

"Yes thank you" Leon and I answered in unison

"What do you want to drink?" Daniel said

"I would like a Coke please" I replied

"I would like lemonade please" he replied

We both hadn't ordered alcoholic drinks because it took me a while but I remembered that the drinking age in LA was 21. Unfortunately we were both 18 which meant we could drink back home but this holiday will help me sort my head out.

My plan was going well at the moment, I hadn't thought about dad's death since I had arrived as long as I kept myself busy, I should be able to cope. Daniel came over with the drinks. Leon slyly moved his foot out and tripped Daniel over, the drinks went everywhere. Daniel got up and apologised and went to get us some more drinks. Leon just sat there like he had done nothing. I knew he had, he knew he had but we kept it quiet. Daniel came back over with fresh drinks and put them on the table. He asked for our orders.

"Are you ready to order your food?" Daniel asked

"Yes we are, I would like the lasagne please" I said

"I would like the roast dinner please" Leon said

"Thank you for your order, It will be ready in about 20 minutes" Daniel said

I stood up and went to look for Daniel, he may not have noticed that Leon had tripped him up but I defiantly did. Daniel was on his way to the kitchen when I caught up with him.

"Daniel" I yelled

He turned around and looked at me. He had a hint of gilt in his eyes like he knew something was wrong.

"Roxie" He yelled back

"I'm sorry for what happened earlier with the drinks." I said by this time, I had caught up with him.

"It's not your fault, I tripped over somebody's feet" He replied

"I know, They were Leon's feet, I'm sorry, He felt threatened and he's become very protective of me since I went missing yesterday" I replied

"Oh, its okay, he has a right to be upset" He replied

"Okay, maybe see you later" I replied

I walked back to the table. Leon looked a little shifty but he had known where I had gone.


End file.
